Can you see goodness with your eyes or feel immorality in your heart? The philosopher Preston Werner thinks so. He defends an idea called moral perception, which means that just like you are able to see or feel things like the color of an orange or the softness of a sweater, you’re also able to perceive, or feel, morality. Some philosophers argue that perceiving morality is a key part of how we make moral judgments about situations. There are a lot of people who are skeptical of this idea. And as you’ll hear in this conversation with Preston Werner, our producer Christiane Wisehart also needs some convincing to believe that moral perception might be true. Preston explains what moral perception is, and also explains why it’s an idea worth defending.

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Examining Ethics is an ethics podcast produced by The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University. The views expressed in these episodes reflect the opinions for the individuals who voice them, and do not represent the opinion or institutional position of either The Prindle Institute or DePauw University.